Mindful Movement

Practicing mindful movement can help us in our everyday lives. There are movements that calm, movements that energize, movements that help with sleep, movements that ignite gratitude and movements that improve athletic performance.

What is Mindful Movement?

Mindful movement means slowing down. Being present in what we are doing at any one time. By practicing mindful movement we can slow down to hear or discover what we are thinking and feeling. We can then allow that pause to help us decide what to do with the feelings or thoughts.

Practicing mindful movement can help us in our everyday lives. There are movements that calm, movements that energize, movements that help with sleep, movements that ignite gratitude and movements that improve athletic performance.

Reduce Anxiety

Eagle Pose – beneficial for quieting the mind and bringing the attention to the body.

Legs Up The Wall Pose – a simple but effective anxiety-busting posture that calms the chatter in our minds.

Fish Pose – can be used for fatigue and anxiety relief, as well as gentle back and shoulder stretching. Beginners may want to place a thickly-folded blanket beneath the head for neck support if they are experiencing any discomfort.

Upright Cat & Cow – a seated version of the classic cat/cow move is designed to move energy through the spine, by activating through rocking the spine back and forth without putting pressure on it.

Sleep

Easy Forward Bend – creates an overall sense of ease in the body while opening the hips.

Plow Pose – turning the blood flow around can bring the body a calming sense of vitality, great for sleep.

Corpse Pose – gets the body into a relaxed state to focus the attention on the breath and calming.

Spinal Twists – gentle twists relieve tension through the spine to rinse out tension from the day.

Supine Spinal Twist

Seated Spinal Twist

Reclined Butterfly – helps the body get ready to rest and observe the breath. It can be helpful to place one hand on the heart and one hand on the belly to feel the rise and fall of each inhale and exhale.

Improve Athletic Performance

Seated pigeon – improves mobility

Cobra – releases pressure in the spine.

Dolphin – stretches the upper back and shoulders, hamstrings, calves and foot arches at the same time.

Frog – improves strength of connective tissue around the ankles and knees, which makes it a great warm-up movement prior to lower-body exercises.

Supported Backbends – they very lightly stretch tight spots, while giving athletes a chance for deep relaxation, which speeds up recovery.

Fish

Bridge

Reclined Big Toe – strengthens the knees and can target the IT band (a common tight spot in runners) and can relieve backaches and sciatic pain. Using a band/strap makes it accessible for everyone.

Boat Pose – increases abdominal and hip flexor strength.

Bow Pose – stretches the front of the body, improves posture and strengthens the back muscles.